I Will Follow You Into the Dark
by lightkeykid
Summary: They took his world and his heart all at once (how much more could he take). She was lost in the dark and in her memories (weren't they all the same). After all they suffered, all he wanted was rest (how could he rest without his friends beside him). From the beginning to the end, the lives of Sora, Kairi, and Riku were woven together by destiny.
1. Hint of a Spark

_Love of mine; someday you will die._

His heart stopped beating the moment she disappeared.

One stroke of a blade ended his world.

After all that he went through, all they had gone through, this was their reward.

Fine. If that was the way it would be, he would bring her back himself. Sora would not rest until he found her again.

With his Keyblade pointed high, he ripped open the heavens with the intent to bring her back to the light once more.

_And I__'ll be close behind; I'll follow you into the dark_

For the first time in years, Sora was truly alone. No support, no backup, no rescue waiting in the wings. He chose the road, and he would walk it whether or not anyone else followed. It felt like he had walked for days without end.

No one would follow him. They all had their own purpose back home. Riku could take care of his friends better than _he _ever could. After all, he was the Master, the one entrusted to keep the Keyblade legacy. The only thing Sora was trusted with was saving those who were lost: Aqua, Ventus, and now Kairi.

The dull ache in his heart lightened with her name. Kairi. The light in his darkness. Darkness surrounded him the moment he lost her. Xehanort was only lucky Sora did not have him alone at the critical moment. His blood ran hot at the thought. The old man ruined lives without a care to the consequences. Thought they had defeated him, how was Sora supposed to live his life without her? How much more could Sora lose before he broke completely?

He should have taken more time with her. All he had was those final moments in the graveyard. He glanced down at his hands. The memory of her soft fingers pulling him through the darkness kept him going. This time, the darkness threatened to take him. No light to guide him now, not even a glimmer.

_No blinding lights or tunnels to gates of white_

It suited him. The emptiness. What more was there? Riku believed in him, but it seemed like this time, he just might fail.

_Kairi. _Sora thought of her. How was she doing? Had she found someone to keep her company? Maybe Naminé… Tears stung his eyes. He promised Namine he would see her again. He promised Kairi he'd keep her safe. What a failure. He reached up to wipe his tears away when a hand grasped his own.

_Just our hands clasped tight, waiting for a hint of a spark._

He didn't trust himself to speak her name. The hand was cold and frail.

"Sora." Her voice was strong as Kairi always was.

The joy seeped through his every cell. "Kairi!" Her body was so small enveloped in his arms, but he wouldn't let her go once again. The faint whisper of her body almost shimmered in his arms.

A soft sniffle reverberated against his chest."You followed me?" She spoke softly as if she knew that anything more would tip him past the deep end.

Sora touched his forehead to hers. "Oh Kairi," he sighed, hoping she could feel every emotion with his words. He cupped her cheeks in his hands. They were moist with tears. Good news; the dead did not shed tears.

He moved his lips close to hers, so close that they almost brushed."Our souls are intertwined. Wherever you go, I go."

_If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark_


	2. Heart of Love

_If there__'s no one beside you when your soul embarks_

So… this is how it felt to be dead. The last memory she had was the blow against her back. The end of her life took one measly blow.

How tragic.

Darkness surrounded Kairi. This was wrong. She was light itself, or at least, that is what the Master told her. A Princess of Light.

What a useless title. Nothing but trouble for her during life and no help after it.

Memories flowed through her consciousness; close but out of reach. A flower garden next to the castle. A sweet old lady. A magical present. A meteor shower lighting up the night sky. Two smiling faces greeting her in a sunlit room. Riku. Sora. The first friends she made in her new home. Nine years of peace and fun under the sun with her best friends. With the one blow, she left them behind.

They were all alone, just as she was once. She thought of that year after her return; the year without her boys. To most of Destiny Islands, Kairi was the town loon. She waited at the beach for Riku to come home although he disappeared the night of the storm. Kairi remembered the barbs and jeers of her classmates. They whispered and hissed behind her back when she mentioned Sora's existence.

Not all however. Selphie, the nice girl with the jump-rope. She listened to Kairi when no one else would. Tidus and Wakka, the only adventurous boys left. They tried to shield her from the worst of the rumors. The rest spent their time taunting her for holding out for a boy that did not exist. Being the mayor's daughter helped save her reputation, not that she cared for it. All she knew was that there was a missing piece of her out there in the world, and he lived on in her foggy memories.

_In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule_

Destiny Islands wasn't home without him - a fact driven home the day after she made the connection to Sora. In the darkness, that memory shot through her heart (or at least where it used to be). She could still see the day in her mind's eye.

It was the last class of the day and of the week. Not one student in the classroom paid attention to the lesson at hand. Why should she? What was the point of it all? Her emotions bubbled up inside, threatening to burst at any moment. And so, she did what she knew best. While her teacher droned on and on about tragedy in literature, Kairi penned the thoughts colliding in her brain, and thought of what she would say to the boy she barely remembered. She wrote from her heart, the most important muscle in her body. Engrossed in her own world, she did not notice her teacher approaching her desk.

_I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black_

"As the mayor's daughter, you receive much leeway in this school!" Her teacher scolded her in front of the class, clutching the letter in one hand and a ruler in the other. "Leeway you do not deserve. Wasting my precious class time!" She harrumphed grabbing Kairi's hands.

Each rap on her knuckles reminded her that there was darkness inside of everyone's hearts. Not all darkness was evil, but most of it hurt. She wanted to cry, oh so much, but Kairi held her gaze toward her classmates. She would wear the bruises as a badge of honor to remind the whole lot of them.

After ten strikes, Kairi faced the teacher, who wore a malicious grin on her face.

"This, students, is what happens when you write love letters in my class. Let this be a lesson to you all. There is no place for love in this world," she spat as she threw Kairi's letter to into the trash bin. The students gasped. Kairi wanted to scoff. Punishment was okay, but not even the town loon deserved such cruelty.

She didn't care anyhow.

_And I held my tongue as she told me,_

_Fear is the heart of love, so I never went back_

Maybe this time, it would work again. Maybe this time, he would send her a letter to bring her back. True, it would be a miracle, but what a miracle it would be. She yearned to hear his voice or see his smile.

How much time had passed since her death? Time passed slowly here. Was this all there was after life? She hoped not. No light to shine her way nor a sound to distract her from her thoughts. She walked and walked until that death-changing moment.

Never before had she heard the sound of a tear drop, but the following sniffle, such a beautiful sound, she could recognize beyond death.

He was here.

She reached out and found his face. Warmth. Not a phantom feeling of a fragile memory. True warmth. There was no name for this sensation. None other than his name.

"_Sora."_


	3. Seen Everything to See

_You and me we've seen everything to see_

He waited on the shore for their return. He closed his eyes hard and thought, _They have to return_. Sora wouldn't rest until he found Kairi. Right?

This wasn't how it was supposed to end. All he wanted was to live his life with his friends at his side after the battle was over. Had they not lost enough? _But,_ he thought with disgust, _maybe this was the interest on his penance coming to collect._

After all, there was much for Riku to repent. As a younger man, Riku's dream was to spread his wings and explore the worlds. What lay beyond the island, the sunset, and the stars? He was ready to explore it all with his friends at his side.

The time came sooner than anyone would have guessed. The storm hit his island, and he lost Kairi, then Sora. He scoured the worlds to find them, and if he blurred a few lines with his actions, so be it. At least he would find them. Find them, he did, and with a few wrong turns, he ruined everything with his ambition and pride. Riku, who had seen all of the worlds to find Kairi, pushed away Sora to be the hero. Pride goeth before fall, and as the saying went, Riku followed with destruction as his companion.

Sora, as he did, healed everything in Riku's path. He brought Kairi back at his own expense. He saved the worlds over and over again. His light guided Riku through his darkness. When the time came for Riku to repay the favor, he protected Sora through the darkness he thought tainted his soul. He grew stronger in heart and in body to protect the things that matter.

Wasn't that his job? To protect Sora and Kairi from anything that would harm them? How did he fail at his purpose once more? He should have insisted… No, earlier than that. He should have stayed by Kairi's side. She was a novice, and he was a master. In giving her space to grow, he let her down once more. Furthermore, he lost two friends, and it was beyond his own power to save them from the abyss.

_The soles of your shoes are all worn down._

Tears welled in his eyes; tears that he refused to shed with all these people around him. They gathered here to lift his spirits and to celebrate a hollow victory. All who gathered here survived only because Sora and Kairi worked to keep them alive beyond their own lives. Each and every one of them deserved their rest. Trauma broke each and every one of them. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Isa. Naminé. Even Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Now they all awaited the return of their final members before they could truly recuperate.

Riku needed them close and far away at the same time. Once upon a time, he wished to be alone in his grief, but now, the solitude suffocated him. Riku spent the first few days back without anyone, full of hope that Sora and Kairi would return at any moment. By the end of the first day, he found himself huddled in the Secret Place next to the sketches of Sora and Kairi, whispering false promises to them.

"_If you don't come back, I'll come find you myself."_

"_When you come back, I'll never let you out of my sight again."_

"_No more saving the world for any of us."_

The quiet nearly drove him insane. Contrary to his younger self, Riku understood that he needed help to cope with the solitude. So, after day three, he called in reinforcements and brought them all to the Islands. Little did he know that within a few hours, two figures would materialize on the paopu tree with clasped hands. Sora and Kairi, together, where they should be.

"He did it," Riku said breathlessly. The missing pieces of his world were back, and finally they could rest.

And then in front of his eyes, helpless to do anything once more, Sora disappeared.

_The time for sleep is now_

Kairi's small body shook in his arms as she sobbed. "Why did he come for me?" She repeated over and over again. "He should have left me."

Nothing Riku could say would make anything better. Not now, and not anytime soon. Instead of answering her questions, stolid and stoic Riku held her close to him. Sora fulfilled his promise to bring her back to them. Now it was his turn to honor that promise. Kairi needed him to be strong, and he needed to protect the things that mattered.

_But it's nothing to cry about_

_'Cause we'll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms_

Somewhere in the deep abyss, a boy lost to the darkness thought to himself, "_They__'re both safe. That's all that matters."_


End file.
